World War II

The Templars orchestrated Adolf Hitler's rise to power by granting him an Apple of Eden.[6] Although the aim of Templar hegemony was accomplished, Hitler himself was killed by the Assassins in 1945, as he left his bunker in Berlin.[7]

Philadelphia Project

It was unclear if the Templars had direct involvement in the Philadelphia Project, but the data they gained from Animus Subject Twelve confirmed that an American Naval ship was briefly thrust into a future timeline. Fearful of temporal paradoxes, the Templars contained the artifact responsible.[8]

The Great Purge

In November 2000, the Templars were able to plant a sleeper agent amongst the Assassins, who plunged them into disarray by killing The Mentor of the Order.[9] By September 2012, the Templars had managed to locate and destroy virtually every Assassin encampment around the world.[10]

The Second Plague

In September or October 2006, a virus named L-11 broke out in Africa. After a mere three months, 96% of the continent's population had died, and even after six years, Africa remained essentially empty.[11]

North America

In March 2012, violence erupted between Mexican border guards and illegal immigrants from the United States. Despite hundreds of American refugees being killed and thousands more wounded, record numbers of Americans continued to cross the border.[11]

On 3 September 2012, the Global Weather Association simply abandoned the phrase "North Atlantic Hurricane Season", since occurrences of the natural phenomenon in the North Atlantic had become so powerful and frequent that coastal cities lived in constant fear of the storms.[11][12]

Three days later, the last American film studio permanently closed down, as rampant film piracy and competition from the video game industry had rendered the American cinema industry unviable.[11]

Desmond Miles

Warren Vidic, Lucy Stillman, and Desmond Miles in the Abstergo Animus lab.

On 6 September 2012, the media announced that Abstergo Industries was being investigated for manipulating a small town's water supply, in order to test a synthetic drug referred to as "New Fluoride".[11] This pressured Abstergo to launch their Eye-Abstergo satellite, which was secretly a mind control device powered by a Piece of Eden, on December 21, sooner than planned.[13] The Piece of Eden intended to power the satellite was destroyed in the DIA satellite accident, and Abstergo did not have a spare.[11]

To that end, Abstergo kidnapped Desmond Miles and took him to their facility in Italy, after their previous Animus Subject, Clay Kaczmarek, had committed suicide. Here, Desmond relived the memories of his ancestor, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, so that Abstergo could obtain a map showing the locations of the Pieces of Eden on Earth.[14]

Shortly after, Desmond escaped Abstergo with the help of fellow Assassin Lucy Stillman, who was working undercover in Abstergo. With the Assassins losing the war against the Templars, the decision was made to train Desmond as a true Assassin in the fastest possible way, through the use of the Animus 2.0, which was made from copied Abstergo blueprints. As such, the Assassins intended to take advantage of the Bleeding effect, by having Desmond relive the memories of an ancestor to take on his skills, this ancestor being a nobleman in the Italian Renaissance by the name of Ezio Auditore da Firenze.[15]

While reliving these memories, Desmond encountered an entity known only as Minerva, who warned of a natural disaster that would soon recur. In order to avert planet-wide decimation, the Pieces of Eden needed to be brought to a series of temples built by the First Civilization.[15]

Vidic and the Templars catch up with Desmond

Soon after, Desmond and his companions were located by the Templars, though they were able to escape once more.[15] After this, they fled to the Assassin safehouse of Monteriggioni, where Desmond continued to relive Ezio's life in order to locate the Apple of Eden that had come into his possession.[16]

The search led Desmond to the Colosseum Vault in Rome, which contained a secret passage leading to Santa Maria Aracoeli. Here, the Assassins located the Apple of Eden within a hidden vault, and Desmond attempted to retrieve it through performing a short freerunning course. When Desmond touched the Apple, his body was somehow possessed by Juno, one of the First Civilization, and was controlled into stabbing Lucy Stillman in the stomach. Following this, Desmond went into shock, before slipping into a state of unconsciousness.[16]

While Desmond had blacked out, William Miles's team arrived and had him placed him into the Animus.[16] During this time, Desmond relived the memories of Ezio during the search for Leonardo da Vinci, where he subsequently discovered the Pythagorean Vault, receiving the coordinates that would direct the Assassin Order to the Grand Temple. However, as a result of this strain on his weakened psychological state, Desmond slipped into a coma.[17]

As Desmond's coma bound him to the Animus, he was left to try and piece his subconscious mind together. Outside the virtual machine, after burying the deceased Lucy outside Rome, the Assassins flew to the United States while posing as a medical team. When Desmond had fully synchronized with Ezio's remaining genetic memories, he entered into a Sync Nexus and awoke outside the Grand Temple, claiming that he knew what they had to do.[18]